ENSO independent tropical-extratropical signal off the Northeast Pacific

Abstract

Numerous temporal and spatial patterns of natural climate variability have been characterized. By analyzing standardized and detrended sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) along the coast from 1950 to 2023, this study identifies two dominant modes of ocean variability in the Northeast Pacific Boundary Current (NEPBC) which includes the California and Alaska currents. The first mode is the prevalent pattern of interannual variability associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. A second mode arises as an independent dipole between the coasts of North and Central America, with the strongest intensities on a portion of the NEPBC (38°-53°N) and the Eastern Pacific warm pool (EPWP, 2°S-15°N). The difference in SSTA between the two regions appears to be caused by variations in the intensity and distribution of atmospheric pressure fields and it is related with the Pacific Meridional Mode and North Pacific Oscillation. Such coastal mode will provide the opportunity to describe the interactions of coastal processes with climate indices capturing larger-scale phenomena.